


safety pin

by thatfangirlingfreak



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: But they figure it out, M/M, The boys are dumb, kinda angsty mostly cute tho ur good, office!cake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 05:55:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9221999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatfangirlingfreak/pseuds/thatfangirlingfreak
Summary: Luke and Calum work in the same office. They find it hard to keep their feelings at bay.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was loosely inspired by The Office, since I'm obsessed. I had to write about cake in an office to satisfy my thoughts. So here it is, enjoy! (Special thanks to Maya for helping me tweak this a bit!!)

Calum anxiously taps his pencil against his desk, replaying last night over and over in his head. How could he be so stupid?

"Hey mate, can you cool it with all that tapping? Some of us are actually trying to work," the guy working nearby peaks over, looking irritated.

"Sorry," Calum sheepishly mutters, running a hand through his curls. His coworker rolls his eyes and sits back down.

Calum can't help but wish that Luke was there as he stares at his empty desk.

Ashton told him that the blonde was sick, but he knew better. Since he started this job, Luke had never been sick once.

_"Hi? Um, I'm Calum. Hood, sorry," he stutters awkwardly._

_"Oh yes, the new employee! We've been expecting you," The receptionist chirps. She points towards the corner in the back, a small area with only two desks in it. It's blocked off from the rest of the office by a sort of cubicle._

_There's a blonde guy in one of the desks already, so Calum goes over to the other one. He takes his seat, following the list of instructions the lady handed to him. It's not until he's halfway through setting up his computer that the guy behind him turns around to greet him._

_"Oh hi, you must be Calum Hood," he says, grinning._

_Calum swivels his chair around and swears he's never seen someone so beautiful. "Y-yeah, that's me."_

_"I'm Luke Hemmings, nice to be desk mates with you. Or cell mates, since this place is pretty much jail. But anyways, here's a present for your first day of prison."_

_Calum raises his eyebrows as Luke gives him a plastic container filled with safety pins. "Uh, thanks?"_

_"Sorry, Ashton was supposed to get you something better, but no one would chip in."_

_"No, I think it's great." Calum grabs a piece of paper and scribbles something down on it, covering it so Luke couldn't peek._

_He takes one of the safety pins and walks up to the bulletin board on the wall at the back of their small corner. He pins it into the cork, smiling._

_"'Calum and Luke's Jail Cell.' Clever, but why does your name get to be first?" Luke pouts._

_He chuckles. "You have to earn your place, young warrior."_

_"You're the new guy!"_

_"Sh, you still have much to learn, Hemmings."_

_"Whatever, Hood."_

Calum smiles at their lame sign that managed to stay stuck in the board. Well, one of their lame signs.

There's the Calum version, then the Luke one.

_"Last night when Ashton was wasted, he told me that our names together would be Cake."_

_Calum laughs loudly as Luke recounts the whole story that lead to this riveting discovery._

_"I've only been working here for a few weeks, and he already thinks we'd be cute together?"_

_"I know! That's what I said, but Ash was insistent. 'There's real chemistry there, Lucas. You guys are soulmates. Love at first sight.'"_

_"Wow, you must really talk me up to your friends, Hemmings," Calum smirks._

_"Shut up!" Luke blushes. "I do not!"_

_"Uh huh. You're cute when you're lying."_

_Luke groans, blush intensifying. "Whatever."_

_A few minutes later, after the two resume working, Luke goes over to the bulletin board. He sticks a piece of paper in next to the first sign._

_"'Cake's Bakery.' Wow, that's fantastic," Calum says sarcastically._

_Luke sticks his tongue out at him. "Just evening out the playing field."_

_"My name's still first, technically."_

_"Oh my god, I hate you. Just quit now."_

_"You love me, Ashton said so!" Calum teases. Luke just smiles to himself, shaking his head._

He glances at the clock hanging on the wall, silently groaning as he sees that it's not five yet.

He clicks some shit on his computer to pretend that he's doing something, and smiles a little at his wallpaper.

It's a photo of him and Luke, of course.  
  
_"I'm glad you're finally coming out with me and Ashton," Luke smiles. "You're gonna have a great time, I promise."_

_"With all the stories you've told me, I'm sure I will," Calum grins down at the smaller boy. Luke just smiles back, before gasping and clutching onto his arm. His pale hands tighten around his bicep, and Calum feels his heart pick up its pace._

_"You good?" He asks the blonde._

_"Y-yeah. I almost fucking fell, sorry," Luke says, a little out of breath._

_"It's okay, as long as you're okay," Calum smiles. Luke keeps his hands on his arm._

_They enter the restaurant Ashton picked, and immediately find the curly haired man seated by the bar._

_"Look, it's my favorite couple!"_

_"Shut up, Ash," Luke groans, sitting on the side across from Ashton. Calum greets their friend before sliding into Luke's side of the booth._

_"Just messing with you Lucas. Do you guys want me to grab some drinks?"_

_They get their first round, which turns into another. Which accumulates until Ashton is way drunk._

_"God, I told you he always goes hard on Friday. No matter what. I think it's his way of celebrating the end of the week," Luke says, running a hand through his hair. He and Calum are only a little tipsy, as they were smart and stopped after the third round._

_"It's alright. It's kind of amusing, really."_

_"You guys! I want-" Ashton interrupts himself by giggling. "Wanna photo of Cake. It's gonna be great, okay!"_

_"Ashton, you need a camera first."_

_"Oh! Oh yeah!" He pulls out his phone. "Say 'cake!'"_

_"Don't say that," Luke stresses through gritted teeth, making Calum laugh._

_"Aw, so cute. Here!" He tosses his phone at Luke._

_The blonde panics but manages to catch the device, sighing in relief. "Damn," Luke says. "He actually did a good job."_

_Calum looks at the photo. "Wow, we look good. Do you think you can send that to me?"_

_"Sure, what's your number?" Luke asks, opening Ashton's contacts. Calum recites it aloud, and feels his phone vibrate a minute later._

_"Thanks," He smiles. "And hey, now you have my number."_

_Luke smiles back, hoping that the dim lighting is hiding his blush._

_"And a romance blossoms..." Ashton whispers, making the duo laugh._

Calum grins at the memory. Ashton had always been rooting for them, no matter what.

He looks at the top of his computer to see the sticky note Luke left there a long time ago.

_"I was on a date with this guy last night, and-"_

_"Was he hot?" Michael, a coworker of theirs, interrupts Luke._

_"Eh, kinda. Not after this. So, we start talking and at first I'm like 'okay yes, you're the one'-"_

_Calum tunes out at this part of the story, staring blankly at the chicken casserole he made last night. It was one of Luke's favorite dishes to steal bits from at lunch. Next to his lunch was his blue water bottle, which he knew was Luke's favorite color since he was little._

_He knew so much about Luke, knew more than this 'Jack' guy Luke keeps talking about. In fact, one of Luke's brothers is named Jack. He has another brother named Ben–and who wants to date someone with the same name as their brother anyway?_

_Calum knew his ridiculous thoughts were just fueled by jealousy and he should just stop angrily stabbing at his food; however, he didn't know how to calm down. It's not like he gets to control who Luke sees, he has no right to be jealous._

_"Calum? Are you okay?" Luke asks, breaking him out of his thoughts._

_"Yeah. I'm gonna go back to work. You can take the rest of this if you want," He says, sliding his food over to him. Calum stands and goes back to his desk, missing the way Luke frowns at him._

_They don't speak to each other for the rest of the day. Calum eventually leaves his desk to take a quick break, and when he returns he's greeted by a bright pink sticky note._

_'Turn around ;-)' is written there, and it's obviously Luke's handwriting._

_He sighs, but turns around to see Luke with a blue sticky note on his nose. 'I miss you,' is written on it, and the blonde is pouting, big blue eyes shining._

_Calum chuckles, grabbing a yellow sticky note and writing 'Missed you too' on it._

_'Friends?' Luke writes._

_'Of course.' Calum writes, even though his heart aches._

_'BEST friends?'_

_'Yes, you dork.' Calum rolls his eyes before sticking it to Luke's forehead._

_"You're so mean, Hood," He frowns._

_Calum just winks, before turning back to his work._

_Before he goes home, he finds one last sticky note. This time it's on the ground, slightly crumpled._

_'You'll always be my favorite. Xx'_

_Calum smiles, glancing at Luke's empty chair for a second. He'd already left for the night. He sticks his best friend's sticky note over the one already on the computer, and heads home._

Luke later said he hadn't meant for him to see that note and that he was going to throw it away, but didn't make it into the trash. He was really flustered and cute about it.

Calum is glad it didn't go into the trash. He felt reassured that no one could replace him.

_"He's just so cute, Ash, I can't-"_

_"Luke listen, I think you should-"_

_"Hey guys," Calum enters, interrupting their conversation. "What's up?"_

_His friends look at each other awkwardly._

_"Come on, you guys are my best friends. You can't tell me what's going on?"_

_"What do you mean?" Ashton asked, looking down at his shoes._

_"You two have been avoiding me all week! Something's obviously wrong." Neither of them speak. "Fine," Calum huffs. "I guess I'm not a good enough friend."_

_"Cal-"_

_"Luke's seeing someone!" Ashton blurts, making Calum freeze._

_"Ash!"_

_"I'm sorry, Luke. He deserves to know."_

_"That's...that's great. Why didn't you guys want me to know?" Calum asks, but he's met with more silence._

_"I...I know you have a crush on me, Calum," Luke confesses._

_"What?"_

_"The signs were pretty obvious," Ashton says._

_"I'm sorry, you? A crush? That's hilarious, I'd never date Luke! You guys are crazy. Luke and I are just best friends," Calum lies._

_"Cal," Luke says softly._

_"No," Calum raises his voice. "We're best friends, that's it. You can date whoever you want, I don't care. I never cared."_

_Luke looks stunned, maybe a little scared. "Um...I'm sorry for the misunderstanding then. I-I'm sorry I thought you liked me." He hurriedly exits the room._

_"Why'd you go and do that, man?" Ashton asks accusingly._

_"What the fuck are you talking about?"_

_"Luke's not seeing anybody. We were talking about you when you came in."_

_"Then why didn't you guys just tell me that?! Oh my god, I was just trying not to fuck up our friendship."_

_"I'm sorry, I'm the one responsible. I...I shouldn't have lied," Ashton admits. "But you shouldn't have said such shitty things about him."_

_"What am I gonna do? He hates me."_

_"No he doesn't, just tell him the truth."_

_This sounded like a great idea to Calum, until Luke wouldn't even look at him for the rest of the day. Rest of the week. He was avoiding him big time, going so far as to disappear when Calum walked by._

And it fucking sucked.

_"Luke, please talk to me," Calum pleads on Tuesday. "At least look at me."_

_He did neither._

_"I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have said anything. I was only overreacting because I didn't want you to know I like you. I thought you only wanted to be my best friend." Calum gets no response again, so he continues. "I'm so sorry I hurt you. Please forgive me."_

_He feels like giving up when he doesn't get a response again. "Luke," He says in an exasperated tone._

_"What do you want me to say, Calum?" Luke asks, finally turning to face him. His eyes are sad. Calum hates it._

_"That you'll forgive me."_

_"I...I can't."_

_"What do you mean you can't?"_

_"Look, it's not that simple. I just-"_

_"It is simple, Luke! I like you, you like me. You know I'm sorry, and this is just a misunderstanding. What's the fucking problem?!"_

_"You know what? Fuck you, Calum. Just leave me alone," Luke spits, leaving his desk._

Calum frowns at the thought of the recent events, but knows that what happened last night is even worse.

He looks at the clock. Five on the dot. He gathers his things and heads to the nearby bus stop.

_"Let's go out, just you and me," Ashton told him earlier that day._

_Well here he was at the bar they planned to meet up at, and no sign of Ashton. But there's plenty of Luke._

_"Uh, hi. This seat taken?" Calum asks, sitting down next to Luke._

_"Calum?" Luke is shocked, then angry. "What the fuck are you doing here?"_

_"Ashton invited me."_

_"Oh god," He groans. "I should've known he'd try to force us to make up."_

_"Luke, please listen-"_

_"No. I told you to stay away from me and I meant it. You don't get to act like we're best friends again."_

_"But I don't understand why you're pushing me away! You know I like you, so what's the problem?"_

_"Really, you like me, huh?" Calum nods. "Then how come it was so easy for you to talk down to me like I meant nothing to you?"_

_"Luke, I didn't mean-"_

_"You obviously did. You must have had those thoughts for a long time, hm? How does it feel to have it off your chest? I know I'm pathetic now, I hope you're satisfied."_

_"Stop, Luke. Please just hear me out!"_

_"No Calum, you stop. I'm done playing this game with you!" Luke begins walking away._

_"Luke, wait! Wait!" He doesn't stop, so Calum pulls him by the arm back towards him and swivels him around._

_They end up face to face._

_Calum kisses him for a good two seconds, before he's being slapped in the face._

_Fuck._

_"You're such a fucking bastard!"_

He watches water droplets race down the windows of the bus, thinking about Luke's blue eyes and cute nose dotted with freckles and wide smile decorated with a little dimple.

He is everything Calum isn't. Perfect, smart, funny, talented...

God, he just can't stop thinking about him. A man with golden blonde hair boards the bus and for a split second Calum's heart soars, until he realizes that it's not Luke.

He remembers the last time it rained as bad as this.

_"Shit! I forgot my umbrella," Luke groans. It's a rainy Thursday, which is pretty rare._

_"I have mine. I can walk you home if you want?" Calum asks, gesturing to his purple umbrella in the corner._

_"Thanks, I appreciate that," Luke grins._

_On their walk home, Luke collects raindrops on his tongue and Calum calls him gross._

_"It's the same as snow! Is snow NOT water?!"_

_"Still gross," Calum laughs, shaking his head fondly._

_Luke scrunches up his nose, and Calum smiles upon seeing the little drops on his cheeks. He uses his thumb to swipe them away for the smaller boy._

_"T-thank you," He blushes._

_"What are friends for?" Calum flashes a grin._

_"Yeah...oh, this me. Thanks for walking me over, Cal."_

_"No problem. Can you actually hold this for a second?" Calum hands Luke the umbrella while he ties his shoe._

_Luke ends up accidentally taking his umbrella with him, somehow, and he hasn't returned it since. It's become a joke between them now._

Calum smiles fondly at the memory. He wishes they were like that now, on this rainy day.

The bus stops near his place. Unfortunately, that umbrella Luke stole was the only umbrella he had, and he hadn't had the time to get a new one.

So here he was, umbrella-less and Luke-less in the middle of a torrential rain. He may be exaggerating, but still.

He puts his coat over his head as a shield, and walks home. As he approaches, he sees a small figure sitting on his steps with a purple umbrella in hand.

"Luke?"

"Hey stranger, I thought I'd return this to you," The blonde smiles.

"Wh-I thought you were upset with me? I thought you'd be really upset with me, actually."

"I am. But I decided to finally hear you out, instead of being childish," Luke says, looking a little embarrassed.

"Okay. I'm so so sorry for everything, Luke. Please know that I was acting like such an idiot only to spare our friendship and be supportive of you. I had the best intentions, but I ended up saying things I didn't mean. I think you're the greatest person on this planet, and I would never dare think anything negative about you. I am so sorry for hurting you, Lukey."

"I'm sorry too, for refusing to listen to you. I think I understand why you did everything, but...why'd you kiss me last night?"

"Honestly?" Calum chuckled. "I thought I'd never get another chance to do it if I didn't do it then. I thought you'd never forgive me."

Luke smiles. "I forgive you now, so no need to worry about that. It may take me a while to recover from this though, even if this is just a misunderstanding. I'm...I still feel insecure about what you said."

"Luke," Calum frowned. "I swear I didn't mean a word of it."

"I know, but it's still pretty fresh so just give me some time," Luke says softly.

"Okay. I'd spend my whole lifetime making sure you never feel insecure again."

"Oh yeah, that's gonna be your punishment," He laughs. Everything feels okay again, and Calum smiles.

"Spending eternity with Luke Hemmings sounds more like a gift than punishment, really."

"Wow, put that in your proposal."

"Don't worry, it's coming," Calum winks.

"Are you saying you want to marry me, Hood?"

"Well, I think I'd like to date you first."

"I'd like that too," Luke laughs lightly. Calum grins, pushing his wet hair off his forehead.

"God, I didn't even realize the rain was still coming down. Get under the umbrella, Cal. You're soaking out there!"

He takes the handle from Luke, since he's taller. "You finally brought my baby back home."

"I thought it was time to return it. Also, I have something else that needs to be returned."

"Wha-"

Luke leans up and kisses him, and Calum smiles into it. He drops the umbrella, and cups Luke's face instead. He has never felt so alive in all his life.

Calum always thought kisses in the rain were pretty cliché, but once you have the right person and an umbrella, they are magical.

Even if you happen to drop the umbrella in favor of holding the cutest boy you know.

"Luke," Calum mumbles against his baby pink lips.

"Hm?" He hums, before breaking their kiss.

"I think we should just be friends. I know it will be hard, since we both have huge crushes on each other and we're locked in the same cell, but I think if we can get past the sexual tension-"

"Fuck you, Hood. You're so lame," Luke giggles, kissing him again.

"Mm, anytime Hemmings," Calum winks.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this lil piece, and my first work in 2017!!
> 
> as always, you can reach me at twitter or on my wattpad:  
> twitter: @celesticalum  
> wattpad: novocaineftcal
> 
> thank you for reading!


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